


Fireburn

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Series: The Winged Jedi [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14314296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: It was always her greatest flaw - at her core, no matter what, she was a Stewjon raptor, and she was made for violence. She worked to overcome it, but she was never sure how successful she'd been.





	Fireburn

She had only ever been to Stewjon once, back when she was a youngling. 

She had just finished molting, her juvenile white down falling away to reveal a shining copper, her hair tone fading out from black in a matter of days to reveal the same colour. Panicked from her new and vicious instinct, the Order had taken her to the Elders of her people. 

"She's a goddess." They had said, kneeling before her. She hadn't understood and it had made the master with her nervous. 

"What do you mean?" She'd asked, looking at herself. She didn't feel like a god. 

They'd explained then, patient and loving in a way the Temple had never been, that most raptors were black or slate grey in colour, to blend with the rock of the mountain. Some of the more special ones were blessed with gem-colours, brilliant shades of sapphire or amethyst. It was a blessing, a sign of favour. 

"The greatest love of the gods comes from metal." The Elder explained, touching her hair. "If one is coloured metallic, they are beloved, not just favoured. If the hair matches the wings, they are god-kin."

She blinked. "Meaning?"

"You were given a mortal life, but god-kin ascend after death to join the pantheon. You will join them when you perish." The Elder looked at the master. "She should remain here. You will do her a disservice."

The master stiffened. "Your people gave her to the Order. The decision is ultimately hers, but her home is with us."

She shied away from the Elder. She was no god, she didn't deserve the kind of reverence she was being shown. She didn't belong here.

"Your job is to tell her what she can expect as she matures. That is why we came." The master continued. 

The Elder took her and lead her to the sheer side of the mountains, where the sun was rising. 

"You will grow now. Your wings will burn, and they will expand with you as you mature. When you get the drive, you must try to fly. If you do not, you will not learn and it will become harder to do so. Stand tall and straight when you walk - do not allow the weight of the wings to overtake you. They will grow faster than you, and be clumsy, but they will suit you in time. The average wingspan is twenty feet, twenty-five a favour of the gods. I can't say what you will be, dear girl. You will also have to let your talons emerge." He held her hand, tracing over the slots above her nails on her fingers. "They will be long, five inches or so, and hard. It will be uncomfortable the first time they descend, but they will help you. The more solid and dark in colour, the stronger you will be. Do not be afraid of your instincts, little one, else you are afraid of yourself. They will guide you when another cannot. Be in tune, even if you do not let them control you. Do not hide from who and what you are, otherwise when they emerge, you will not recognize yourself. Be careful, and know that you will always be welcome back to these mountains, to your true home."

She had not returned, partly in nerves and partly because of what she became. A dazzling display of copper feathers and hair, thirty feet in span, with talons the colour of space and eight inches long. She would have been a goddess in their eyes, perhaps rightly deserved it, but she was needed elsewhere. She could hear it in the Force. 

Then she met Cody, and she knew she would never step foot on those mountain paths again. 

* * *

The only troopers that surrendered were old clones, worn and tired and collapsing in her arms.

Kanan slid down the slope, his team following him. 

"Maybe we should give them a minute." Ezra said.

"No." He marched right over to her, but before he could open his mouth, Cody blocked him. 

"Whatever you have to say is going to wait." The commander said, the voice of someone who would not be disobeyed. 

"No. This has to be addressed, right now."

"You feelings have been noted. Valor will fly you had up to the  _Negotiator_."

"You're not going to dismiss me that easily."

"That was an order, rookie."

"We should just give them a little bit of time. It'll give us all a chance to get ourselves together, think through what we want to say." Rex suggested, trying so very hard to be soft and diplomatic. He didn't want to know what would happen if this confrontation ended poorly, even though he was also shocked and a little scared by her right now. 

"Move." Kanan growled. 

Cody pulled off his helmet, passing it to Prince, who took it without question. "I've never let harm come to my General before. I don't plan on starting now."

"Enough." Kenobi's voice cut through the air, silencing everyone. She pet down Tup's hair once more before standing. "I will not have my commanders at odds. Enough fighting has taken place for one day and today's battle is over."

"Easy enough for a butcher to say." Kanan snapped. 

"Would you want me to kill for you?"

He stumbled, uncertain of her angle. "What do you mean?"

"If you were in mortal danger, would you not want me to kill whoever endangered you?"

"I don't see how this is relevant."

"Would you kill for Sabine, Zeb, Ezra,  _Hera_ , if they were in danger?"

"Of course I would, but I wouldn't mutilate the man's corpse!"

She walked right up to him, her eyes slicing right through him as though he wasn't there. She scorched him from the inside out with simply her gaze and it made his blood run cold. "That's because the only difference between your crew and my men is that you don't see the Clones as people. To you, they are a step above droids - a tool and a weapon, nothing more. Even when you watch them interact with Ezra, you see their numbers, not their names."

The men around him shifted uneasily, even Rex looked away in discomfort. What he said now, what he did now would determine his relationship not only with her, but with the men who were supposed to have his back. 

"This isn't about the clones." He argued. "This is about you killing a man in a brutal and vicious fashion. This isn't a warrior's duty or a Jedi's burden - that was just catharsis and vengeance."

"You hate Anakin because of the crimes he committed, the atrocities of which he was the centre. You spoke to me, in the AT-TE, of the people you heard in the Force during the massacre at the Temple, the way hundreds of voices fell silent all at once." A palpable danger passed across his senses and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Her eyes were on fire. "Every time I entered a battle, I felt that. Thousands of men under my command, perishing by the second, their voices stolen from both my ears and my mind. Those silences, those gaps in the bunks, they were  _my fault_. They died on my orders, no one else. I know what death feels like, Padawan. I justified their sacrifice to myself as the necessities of war, the byproduct of peace. But to hear from his own mouth that he had them slaughter each other simply because he  _could_ , to stand above a corpse and consider him nothing more than a  _plaything_ . . . That I could not abide."

"Sometimes killing is necessary." He amended. "But like that . . . that's not the Jedi way."

"No, it's not." She conceded, stepping back and turning away, her wings rustling and flexing. "But I have always stood for those without voices, without hope, without an escape. I have been a slave, a slaver and a saviour. I have killed before, I have killed now and I will most certainly kill again. As you are so fond of reminding me, Anakin has turned away from the path of Light. As his master, it is my duty to claim responsibility for his actions and set things to rights. And perhaps, perhaps I will fall in the endeavour."

Cody stepped forward, mouth open as if to say something, but she held up her hand. She turned back to face him, the feral glow of her eyes only augmented by the blood splattered across her face and soft beige robes. The light brightened inside of her, the green-clad lady within blooming - Ezra was nearly blinded by it. 

"I will resist nonetheless."

* * *

He stopped, eyes caught on the figure standing within. 

"Oh, Ezra. My apologies, I hadn't noticed you. Come in." She gestured him closer. 

He followed her instruction meekly, trying not to stare, but unable to stop himself. She cast her glance sideways at him for a moment, then began to descend.

"You don't have to come down for me."

"I know." She landed softly, barefoot and donned in nothing more than her underrobes and tabards.

The underrobes were an off-white and silky, meant for meditation and roaming private quarters. On her, they only came down to her mid-thigh, hanging off the sides of her body and leaving long open Vs in the back and the front. The tabards and casual obi trapped the softer fabric down, but did nothing to further cover her, save lend a strip of beige cloth between her thighs. But none of that was what caught Ezra's attention. 

"You may touch." She said, offering her arm.

He took it gently, briefly glancing up at her just to make sure it was okay. She nodded her assent with a soft, kind smile. With a deep breath, he ran his fingertips over the skin and muscle, roughened fingertips catching on all manner of scar and old burn. She was a motley of discolouration, thick ropey scarring and blackened, permanent burns. They ran all across her back, the entire length of her arms and legs, even across her chest and stomach.

"Don't cry, youngling." She whispered, reaching across to wipe his eyes. He could see, settled just under the skin, the long black of her talons. They sat in her forearm, to extend out of her fingers when called. Even around the base of her neck, there was a latticework of black scarring. He reached out to touch it, releasing a little hiccup when he felt how raised they were. "They don't hurt, little one."

"Anymore." He breathed, but she heard. 

She pulled him into her arms. "Exactly. They don't hurt anymore. The goal of any Jedi is not to wallow in the injury, but to heal, to move forward and be unashamed of our toils."

He stroked over her neck scar again, feeling the echo of pain from her mind. "Where did this one come from?"

"Most of these came from a planet I was on when I was a Padawan." She paused, considering. "Well, I had left the Order at that point, so who's to say what I was. But I had gone to a planet in the Outer Rim to help them rebel against their government, to overthrow the corruption. I wound up enslaved there, but to work on a mining colony. They used a shock collar and cattle prods to keep me in line, because I fought so much and so well, but they didn't have the ability to kill me. During one escape attempt, they set the collar on the highest setting and let it run until they found me. It took them hours, and by the time they managed to locate me, the collar had melted my skin and the element has fused to it. They cut the collar off me, and I nearly died. After that, they took to brands and prods. They had also bound my wings. You can't see the marks they left anymore."

"That's awful."

"It was." She admitted. "But I don't feel them anymore. They simply are."

He wanted to curl up closer, but he was now leery of touching her. On the battlefield today, she was a vengeful goddess, but here, in the twilight of the cruiser's atrium, she was just a woman with a past he knew nothing about, a past that left her so battered and broken, not even time had quelled the scarring. 

"There is so much about you that no one knows, isn't there?"

She sighed. "Most of my secrets died with my master. No one else knew about them, or cared enough about me to find out."

"Master Jinn, right?"

"Mmm-hmm." She smiled tightly. "He never wanted a Padawan, and I was the Padawan nobody wanted. The Council assigned me to him without his permission. He was distant and unwilling for years before I left to help the rebels. He came after me, was the one to find me half-dead inside the mines. He took me back to the Temple and had the Healers work on me. According to him, I was unconscious for weeks after I collapsed in his arms. My wounds were all seeping and infected and the joints in my wings had been dislocated. He spent the rest of his life trying to make it up to me, trying to prove to me that he cared very deeply for me."

"I'm so sorry, Master."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, youngling." She pressed her forehead to his. "Old wounds that need not be dwelt upon."

"Master, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Did the rebels wind up winning?"

"No. I did not recover in time to return before the government crushed them."

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Master. I'll leave you to your meditation."

"Farewell, and try to get some sleep instead of messing with the droids."

He laughed. "I'll do my best."

Kanan took a shaky breath from the door, trying his best to fight back the nausea. He had to get out of here, had to get away from this. Ezra couldn't know that he'd been following the youngling, or else he would get suspicious. And Kenobi - he couldn't alert Kenobi either. She had shared the information in confidence, and he did not want her to know that he had broken it, even if only by accident and curiosity.

* * *

He knocked on the door. "General?"

"Come in, Commander."

He was dressed down as much as he could be, considering the lack of clothing assets aboard the mostly empty cruiser, but it was enough. She was dressed down as well, sitting on a couch and gazing out a porthole, watching hyperspace pass her by. He knelt down in front of her, taking her hand in his. 

"Are you okay,  _riduur_?"

She turned to look down at him, eyes shaded by her hair but bright regardless. "I was thinking about Stewjon, actually."

He slid up into the space next to her, leaving room for her to wrap a wing around him and settle him close against her body. "Oh?'

"The Elder said that I was god-kin, when I was a youngling." She gazed upon him. "I wonder what they would think now."

"I think they would be proud of your devotion to your mountain, to your flock." He replied, taking her hand and bringing it up to gently kiss the back of those callused knuckles. "And I think they would believe you a god. You would live at the top of the mountain, forever burning in the sun."

She pulled his forehead to hers, letting out a gentle sigh as he rubbed their noses together. 

"You don't have to hide anything from me,  _ner Jetii_."

"I know,  _cyar'ika_." She whispered back, tilting her head back enough to kiss him. Immediately, he kissed her back, a hand sliding up over the  _aliik_ on her ribs. In return, she traced her fingertips over his left breast, where her words were tattooed;  _Mesh'la tracyn, kandosii'la Jetii._

He parted from her, nuzzling into her neck just to hear her sigh and feel her relax around him, raise the other wing to pull him close. She laid back on the couch, letting her hair fan out around her. It melted her heart every time, seeing the way she took his breath away. 

"I don't think I'll ever believe I'm just  _allowed_ to have you." He breathed, dipping down to kiss her again. 

She giggled. "Even all these years after the  _riduurok_?"

"I always feel like I'm going to wake up from an amazing dream." He cupped her jaw.

She cupped his as well, feeling the instincts that had been riling in the back of her head finally settle and calm. She had honestly thought it would take more work to get his accustomed to the weird quirks that came with her species, but he had always been  quick learner, and had shown his appreciation of her knowledge of Mando'a by learning what she needed from him. 

She leant in, kissing long his collarbone before moving up to his shoulder, where her scar was. She fitted her teeth into the familiar grooves, her head clouding with his scent until nothing else remained. She didn't bite after the first time, but she enjoyed reminding herself of the claim. 

"Would you ever go back to Stewjon?" He questioned, low and sweet, just the way she loved his voice. 

"Whatever for?"

"To live. To make a home."

"I don't know." She pressed a fluttery kiss to his lips again. "I can't say I ever thought I would have the opportunity."

" _Aliit ori'shya tal'din._ "

She pulled him down to rest on her chest, their bodies curled up together. "One day. One day, we can have rest, my dear."

He curled his arms around her, his scars pressed to hers. "I'm going to hold you to that, General."

"You have my word, Commander."

* * *

Wooley, Tup and many of the rescued brothers were far from okay. They refused to talk with anyone other than their own kind or their Jedi, and were often skittish and constantly flinching. 

"We are going to have to keep them isolated and with constant support." Obi-Wan said.

"We've got them under surveillance with a companion brother at all times, but that's only a holdover." Helix rubbed the back of his neck worriedly. "We need to actually work on releasing the trauma and healing their minds. Obviously, whatever Stormtrooper brainwashing they did on them did more harm than good to their psyche, not to mention all of those years that they spent praying for a saviour only for you to appear out of the woodwork."

"Have they had any episodes?"

"No. None of them have been unruly, except for the nightmares, of course."

She nodded. "I understand." She sighed. "General Amidala will have better support systems in place for you to more adequately care for them. A separate barracks, away from the world of war, would likely benefit them in the long-term as well, which I'm sure she would be keen to provide."

"Yeah, she did make that offer."

"Precisely. We'll just have to do our best."

"Yessir."

"If you'll excuse me, Helix."

"Of course, sir."

She walked out of the hangar, but was pulled aside by Hera. She blinked in surprise at the forcefulness of the Twi'lek woman, but chose not to comment on it. 

"What did you do down there?"

"Pardon?"

"What did you do down on Juljer? Kanan hasn't been himself since you guys returned." Hera scowled. 

"I'm afraid I have no control over Kanan's actions."

"I know you don't know what it's like to be worried for someone, but he's not right and I think you had something to do with that."

"If you're so well aware of who I am, then you should already know." She pulled herself from the other woman's grip and continued on her way. 

* * *

General Amidala was there to greet them on the platform. 

"You've arrived in the nick of time, General Kenobi."

"You have need of me so soon?"

"Unfortunately. We're trying to establish a presence on Ryloth, but the rebel leaders there want no part of us. I believe that with a familiar face to work with, we can actually make some progress, even an alliance."

"I would be happy to lend my services," She caught Amidala's arm before the woman could walk off, "but there is also a very time sensitive issue that must be dealt with before anything else."

The General's face fell, but she nodded. "What?"

"We found clones - residuals from the 212th and 501st - within the ranks of the Stormtroopers at Juljer. Many of them are having intense difficulties and I do not believe them capable of proper social interaction. I need a place arranged for them to stay and a staff of any of your clone allies."

Amidala paused for a moment, considering. "I have an empty medical wing that I can lend them until better accomodations are found and some of my personal guard are clones. I'll have them sent over to the cruiser. Who will they be taking direction from?"

"The two medics, Helix and Sawbones."

She nodded swiftly, calling over an aide and rattling off a quick command. The aide nodded and disappeared into the complex. "They'll be down shortly. Are you okay to go into this meeting?'

"Of course." She turned to the clones disembarking. "Cody, Waxer, Boil, you're with me."

"Yessir." They responded. 

Cody turned to Longshot. "All hands on deck to assist Helix and Sawbones before anything else, understood?"

"Yessir." He saluted and rushed off. 

They followed the General through a small network of hallways until they same to one of the smaller halls, where a meeting was already underway. 

"General Syndulla, I would like you to meet-"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Cham stood with a gracious smile. "It has been quite some time. I admit, you were the last face I thought I would see walk through that door."

"I can't say when the vortex hit me that I expected to live." She replied, reaching across to shake his hand. 

He laughed. "I imagine not." 

" _Nerra!_ "

Syndulla and Amidala jumped at the outburst, watching in shock as one of the women in Syndulla's entourage rushed around the table and threw herself at Waxer and Boil. She held them tightly. 

"Numa?" Waxer questioned softly. 

She pulled back, beaming brighter than the sun. "I apologize - it has been many years and I look very different than how you would remember me."

"You know them?" Syndulla asked. 

"These were the two clones that saved me when my village was overrun. They were the ones I lead through the tunnels." She turned to Kenobi and bowed. "Hello to you as well, Jedi."

"I am pleased to see you alive and well, Numa." Kenobi reached out to pet down one of her lekku. "Unfortunately, business must come first. I promise, I will allow them free time after the meeting for you to talk."

Numa nodded excitedly, giving them another quick hug before she rejoined her station. 

"Now, down to business." 

* * *

Ezra watched Boil and Waxer part from the Twi'lek woman, curious. She seemed bashful, but excited. She obviously knew them, and they knew her, but it was like they were meeting for the first time. Waxer had the nicest smile on his face as she waved goodbye and even Boil looked softer than normal.

When they turned to walk away, he revealed himself. 

"Oh, hey kiddo." Waxer grinned at him, beckoning him over. He went, of course, letting the clone wrap an arm loosely about his shoulders. "Were you there the whole time?"

"I saw Cody return, but you didn't. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He replied, pressing close. It was the truth, but only part of it. 

"I bet you're wondering who she was."

"Yeah, actually. I didn't know the clones had any real friends outside the Jedi and their own brothers."

"You're mostly right, we don't. But Numa, the woman, was one of the civilians we saved during the siege of Ryloth, right at the beginning of the war. She'd lost her whole family when the Seps took the planet and we found her in the ruins when we were scouting." Waxer explained. 

"She helped us take down the air cannons stopping the ships from landing, but she left a considerable impression on this tinhead." Boil snickered, tapping the side of Waxer's head. 

"That she did." Waxer chuckled. "It was memory of her that made it feel like the war was worth fighting. She was what made it real to me."

Ezra pressed closer. 

"Don't worry, kiddo." Waxer ruffled his hair. "She's with Syndulla's vanguard. I've still got a place at my hip for you."

He flushed at being found out, but snuggled into the caresses anyway. 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Riduur - lover, applies to spouses  
> Ner Jetii - "my Jedi"  
> Cyar'ika - sweetheart  
> Aliik - sigil, symbol on armour  
> Mesh'la tracyn, kandsosii'la Jetii - "Beautiful fire, stunning Jedi."  
> Riduurok - love bond, specifically between spouses - marriage agreement  
> Aliit ori'shya tal'din - "Family is more than blood."


End file.
